Tag: selfcare

Hey Everyone !! Hope you all had a great weekend !! Even though Monday is lurking around the corner, lets enjoy this Lazy Sunday and reflect on our weekends ! So yesterday, I had no plans like ZERO and Ive been hinting a New York City trip but I was like “eh maybe not cause no one wants to go with me” Also, I never been alone in the city by myself like EVER so I was always codependent on someone when I traveled. Basically, I said “Im gonna go to the city by myself and walk around and enjoy my time !” So catched a train and was on my way ! After 2 hours and a 1 min (yes I checked the ride time because I am a total noob) I was finally there ! Took a uber to Columbus Circle to meet up with my best friend from highschool Jason !! I havent seen him in, 5 years since we both graduated highschool but we always been super close and I was so exicted to see him ! So we met at the shops near Columbus and legit we had this adorable moment when I was so exicted to see him ! Like in the movies !! Where ya havent see a person in so long and you guys get super exicted ! So basically that is what happened ! We walked around Central Park, because I was dying to see Strawberry Fields I tried to go a couple of weeks ago by myself when I stayed in the City for a music festival, but I winded up getting lost and had to call my brother who lives near the park for directions to get out of the park LOL it was very bad but I survived. Sorry about that odd flashback but, we walked around and finally found strawberry fields ! (I obviously took a photo with it) and I saw the cute boats on the water and I begged Jason to come with me and do it, and hes like nah and I was like yeah I understand. (If any cute boys reading this who would like to take me on a cute date like that pls don’t be a stranger and message me) haha so after that idea failed, Jason took some cute photos of me ! I loved how he grasped me being my happy self and enjoying the moment !! (Also they’re very good dating profile photos as well) LOL okay I have to stop ! We walked around near the met !! and went to this small tiny diner ! Also they didnt give us our iced coffee and diet coke (very mad about that still) But around 5 I left ! It was a great day !! It’s always good to reconnect with old friends from your past ! Yes, you get older , life becomes more crazy ! But the connection is always there ! When I saw Jason legit nothing has changed between us we are still the goofy kids who would sit on the bench on our off period senior year and talking about our inside jokes ! All together what I want to get out of this blog post is, be grateful for the moment and the people who still are in your life ! Even though if you havent seen them in a while or talked to them in years, talking to them you realize you stil have a connection and a close bond it makes you realize why they were in your life in the first place ! Thanks all I wanted to say and share love you guys !

Hey Everyone ! Long time no write (I thought I was being cleaver when I wrote that.. but I failed miserably) Anywhoooooo , So the reason ive been basically M.I.A for about two months. I have been writing on and off, but I started to give up and not believe what I was writing was good enough. I gave up and just delayed writing all together which was bad because I wanted to write but then I thought “Oh Ill do it later! Not a big deal !” Which made me begin to procrastinate and unmotivated and started to lose interest. A couple of weeks have passed since I last wrote, and I started not to feel like myself and I gave myself some “Me” time mostly consisted with hanging out with friends, going out exploring new places (nature preserves), and discovering my own happiness and trying to do things for myself independently . Honestly, it was the best decision to take some time off and work on myself. . Its good to take some alone time for yourself, we get so caught up on we need to get our lives together so we can live happy lives and become successful. Taking time for yourself does help you in the long run, a step back makes you become refocused on the goals and dreams you set up in the long run ! During this mini break I realized, I should not be so hard on myself in writing and in my personal life. Sometimes when we are so hard on ourselves (I know because I am my own worst critic) we give up on achieving what we want to become and goals we set out for ourselves and I noticed I was doing that and I slowly began to give up. Step by Step I started to better myself, whenever it was going away for a day doing something out of the ordinary, or exercise (yoga) , and just taking time for myself. I started to get more inspired and refocused. I think its a good thing for anyone in general to take a step back from your prioritizes in life and focus on yourself because you are the most important not other everyday tasks we focus on ! So that was my little rant ! I’ll be posting soon ! I got some good trips this month and I cant wait to write about it !! Love you all

Hi Everyone ! The Weather is starting to become nicer here on Long Island ! I decided to take the advantage and do something fun and explore ! My friend and I want to go out more this summer and travel around the Island. Yesterday, we went to Pirates Cove on Long Island ! It’s this amazing place you walk on sand dunes and see the whole area of the sound. It’s a great place to clear your mind, enjoy the smell of the beach (Sea Salt mostly), the sound of the waves hitting the rocks, and avoid hitting the rocks on your feet. It was a great way to get out of the house and enjoy the calmness and beauty of nature. When you go out and escape your comfort zone lets say your house is a comfort zone for safety. When you decide to let go of your fears and just let everything take its course you can do amazing things! My goal for the summer of 2019, is go out and enjoy nature more with my friends, take walks, have long talks, and just explore.

As I continue to insert my artsy photos with the help of Vsco filters, I feel I’m a inspiring photographer wanting to be discovered. But I started getting into taking photos of nature because its so beautiful and calming to look at, Sometimes if we go outside for a moment and enjoy the oxygen from outside, It can change our whole entire mood and help us feel more relaxed. When my friend Dominique and I, decided to go out we parked near this house which we couldn’t do and winded up getting a ticket (also we trespassed so don’t be like us) I never been to Pirates Cove so I was excited to go and experience a new place ! I had no idea we had to climb so much and I began to worry, because my cardio level is below negative and I just have good flexibility. So I was like welp.. here we go!

Here is the whole view of Pirates Cove! I was so amazed at the view I had to take a photo (Perfect photo opportunity) I felt as I was on top of the world, I felt so free and amazed. Like everything in my mind I was worried on concerned about left my head and it was focused on the beauty of what was surrounding me. I was so amazed what was right in front of me, I felt as if I was looking at a picture I found on Instagram or Google Pics but I saw it with my own two eyes in the moment. When going somewhere in nature, just embrace the moment all the problems just go away and we should encourage more of people taking walks or just being outside. I noticed it has helped a lot with myself, when I struggle or have a bad day. I feel more relaxed and calm. We walked up and down, and walked on some rocks near the beach while doing some yoga!

After we walked around and talked we decided to finally go back home and get some food after our good workout. I saw how far we had to walk up the sand dune and my first thought was “Oh my god I am going to die” and I was determined to walk up this TERRIBLE sand dune to the point I thought I was going to pass out, and I saw this beautiful angle of the water as I turned to my left and I said out loud to my friend “I AM GOING TO PASS OUT BUT I NEED TO TAKE A PHOTO RIGHT NOW!!!” Again, bless up VSCO! It totally helped with my photography skills which I am shocked that I have but I am totally getting into the whole hobby of taking photos!! Finally, after running up the sand dune for 30 minutes, I ruined my running shoes to the point I had to throw them out (I am still sad about it) but, It was a great way to get out and explore something new areas where I live! What I want to encourage everyone from this blog post is, I want everyone for a part of your day, try to go out and enjoy some time outside! Now that the weather is getting nicer I want to go out and explore, enjoy the moment! We should all enjoy the moment we are on this earth for a reason! We should focus on our needs first more than anything else! When we focus on our needs first, we feel encouraged to do more things and feel better about ourselves mentally and physically! It can have a positive affect on us ! Thanks for reading guys !

Hi Everyone! Today I wanna focus on the importance of our negative thoughts how it can consume our day. Sometimes we need a distraction to remove those thoughts and focus/ distract us when we are having a bad day. IF you put our energy into something else, we stay focus and determined. If we work on a activity it can help us block out the world and put are focus on the activity we are all working on to feel complete. For example, I always wanted to go back into drawing I am not the greatest but it does help me focus on something else and escape my mind. So today, it was a beautiful day out and wanted to escape my room for a bit and enjoy the weather. Did some yoga to put myself in a good mood while drinking some water, and decided to write a quote “I’m still growing” I believe we are still growing as we get older, finding out what we like or dislike, what do we really enjoy doing, and find the true meaning of happiness. I believe I am still growing as a person, still going through good and bad times to help me become a stronger person. I’m still learning about myself, at the age of 22 and I’m excited but still nervous to see what will happen in the future. When I was drawing this I thought about plants (just like the old saying “Plants make People Happy” which I finally realized was true) My favorite plant is a sunflower, I went to a sunflower field over the summer and It was so beautiful and amazing. I wanted to resemble myself as a sunflower I am standing tall and through my ups and downs im going to make it through while standing strong. During the day while drawing this I stayed focus listening to some calming music I created on my playlist. Feeling relaxed and calm I believe art really helps me forget about the worries I have in the world. I believe if we focus on something to get our minds off of certain things we can excel and find true happiness and joy through the process.

How many of you wake up and the first thing you do is get out your phone and scroll through all your social media apps, I am mostly talking about Snapchat or Instagram. When we go on snapchat we look at everyone’s stories, seeing the new apartment they just got, going to that music festival you couldn’t get tickets for, the amazing trips in different countries, and trying out new amazing food from that new restaurant. But, I mostly want to focus on Instagram and start a conversation on how it can impact us negatively and positively.

I wanted to share my personal experience about Instagram, last summer I was going through a lot I was not happy and went through a hard time. I didn’t want anyone to know how I was feeling so I portrayed a “Happier” version of myself on social media. I saw this quote on Instagram that spoke to me a lot and it said, “Instagram is your own personal little vision board, use it manifest your visions instead of posting reminders of your pain.” That spoke to me a lot, and decided let me delete all my dumb selfies in my bedroom, pictures I took years ago but reposted on Instagram, and my terrible attempt of drawing the little mermaid and gave up, drew her a sweater. Last summer, I was just so focused on my Instagram so focused on getting a lot of followers and gaining more likes. That was my true happiness during the time, which leads me to the conversation.. The one thing I don’t like about Instagram we are so obsessed with followers who looks at our feed, the likes we get, we have to delete our photo if it doesn’t get more than 100 likes, and how it is a competition to see how “popular” we are and who likes us the most. It can ruin our self esteem feeling as if we aren’t good enough, making us worried we are not living our life to the fullest and we start to view ourselves as “Lame”

I was so worried every time I lost a follower or didn’t get that many likes, I began to think to myself “Am I not pretty, fun, or interesting?” I began that summer planning trips to go upstate and go to the city, thinking you know if I go around and have fun people will be more interested and think “Hey Brooke is pretty cool!” The thing I am trying to point out is, I was more excited to take some cool photos and show everyone what I was doing! People are so invested in taking “The Best Photo” editing the photo, thinking of a clever caption, and watching all the likes come up on their home screen that they don’t enjoy the moment the time being on the time or hanging out with your friends, we are more focused on taking cute photos and posting the picture on Instagram. Also, Instagram is not a way for you to be “happy” I am not happy how we are in a society that we get so excited if we get so many likes on a photo or how many followers we have, that is not true happiness. Again, this is just my point of view on Instagram but I believe it takes over people’s lives and we don’t look beyond social media. I admit, I am guilty towards being obsessed with Instagram with reposting photos because it didn’t get as many likes, and if I hit 200+ likes on my photo I get excited. But, we have to remember this.. It is just a photo. We don’t know their whole story and who they are as a photo we just how they want to portray themselves on Social Media.

I shared my views on social media when I discussed about my body issues and the way I viewed myself based on, seeing girls looking amazing on Instagram and me feeling depressed and not good enough. One of my followers on Instagram, Mike had reached out to me about my blog post about my discussion about being body positive. I feel we need a platform to discuss the good and bad about social media and how we should change it, make it more positive besides feeling as if we are in a competition. Mike had told me he is working to become a psychologist and specializing in eating disorders. We both talked about how we struggled with our body images. Hoe we both take a day out and to focus on ourselves and the process of our self improvement. I want to share his point of view on the direction and influence of social media, (Also he should definitely start a blog because I saw so much truth in his writing!)

“The names that time will remember are those who resonate the most to specific audiences. The music created by legacy is composed by many, working collaboratively on a song of purpose, perseverance, insight and wisdom. This is a time where people are hungry for inspiration, compassion, affirmation, and knowledge. People want to learn, and they want to feel what they learn at an emotional level. They want to be entertained while simultaneously amazed. We’re dying for the next real and relatable underdog story. We have no idea who we can trust with our hope and our support, but we invest in those who put themselves on the front line, those who call themselves ‘influencers.’ Simply put, the definition of the term ‘influencer’ has become flexible. What will inspire society to exceed the boundaries that keep them grounded? We need voices that will elevate us and bring us to a new level of lifestyle satisfaction. We need not boundaries, we need more than names. We need heroes. So many characters have dominated Instagram with the image they present to the world, which is far from their authentic personalities. People aren’t required to post their baggage on social media. So we aspire to be like these people who aren’t posting their full selves in their #SundaySelfies. We’re living comparatively at the expense of self esteem. I firmly believe that people should be helping others, without the gratification and vanity brought by popularity. We need to abandon the ‘SELF help’ movement and work toward a ‘help others’ movement. We need to refuse boastful pride and judgment and move toward kindness and compassion. I’m noticing a trend. I see people shy away from presenting their valuable thoughts and ideas to the world because they feel that they aren’t enough. They refrain from posting their personal progress-whether it’s career progress, academic achievement, gym accomplishments, or anything that anyone else may say “Well…someone else did it better.” For the sake of self esteem, let’s change the direction that influence is heading. Let’s do all that we can to become influencers in our own regard. Let’s be more than just a picture on someone else’s Instagram feed. Let’s take back the role of ‘hero’ in our own stories and let us do so as our authentic, real, raw, selves. Let’s embrace imperfection and acknowledge love and progress for those who have come a long way with us. Let’s empower others and be part of the story rather than scroll through and pass through like ghosts. A movement is started with a single step.”

I believe we should end the stigma of the “Competition” that we see on Instagram and focus more on encouraging people ! Yes, I do believe Instagram and Social Media is a great platform to show your hobbies and ideas and It’s a great step in the right direction to become noticed by companies! But, at the same time the competition aspect can really damage a person’s self esteem and hurt them in the process. So my goal is to end, the struggle to become noticed or feel “good”and feel confident and post whatever you feel like posting and not be concerned on how people view yourself. Anyways thank you guys for reading this ! I hope we can join together and focus on the positive aspect of Instagram and end the negativity that comes along with it.

So last week, I decided to get out of the island for a bit and explore somewhere. (Shocking) I heard they just opened a new mall in the Hudson Yards, my mind at 4 am decided “Hey lets go, I wanna check it out!” The best thoughts and ideas happen at 4 am, don’t deny it at all. So I woke up around 9 am and asked my dad to come along with me, (needed someone to take some good Instagram shots of me) and he enjoys city trips! So we took the drive out there and was gazing upon the tall buildings, and was memorized. Finally, after finding parking (which took forever) we walked around and we finally got to the Hudson Yards Mall. We wanted to check it out, because it had just opened about maybe a month ago so we had decided to experience the new Mall.

Here’s the picture inside the Hudson Yards Mall, it had 5 stories and it was super huge. (obviously because there were 5 levels) It was super unique, there was a tiny art museum in the mall I wanted to check out, because I saw a beautiful painting of Audrey Hepburn (My Idol) but sadly it was going to open at 3 pm and we were there at 11 am (struggles but I got to look at it and admire from afar) When walking around we wanted to check out The Vessel, it was super helpful people were helping us find it because, me and my dad circled around the mall to find it (I am super clueless when it comes to directions) So we went outside and saw The Vessel it was amazing, seeing it in real-life was breathtaking.

Stepping outside seeing The Vessel, It was super unique I never saw a building like that and its interesting now a days seeing how people are designing buildings in the city. While on my way to the Hudson Yards I was super upset I didn’t get to take a photo of the building. I like the idea of how they are changing the buildings up and making them more unique and modern. When I saw The Vessel, my dad and I decided to wait on line to go up but I am afraid of heights. (Ask anyone I have a panic attack) but I thought hey! let me go and do it! Experience something new and what not, As we reached our turn we realized we had to pay for our tickets before getting on the line. The line at that point was crazy long so we had to take the long walk of shame. So, in my head like every girl wanting to look cool I asked my dad “Can you take a photo of me behind The Vessel!” So he had taken a photo and it came out sick (Perks of your dad being a videographer he takes rad photographs)

Also, I thought It was really amazing the art that was shown around the mall. I saw some of the artwork but this really stood out to me the most, “We Believe The Future Is Ours” meaning that we decide what our future wants to be and the world is behind us, reaching our goals. When walking around the mall I saw a lot of cool quotes (I wanted to look at all of them and take photos of them) But, in conclusion is was a dope mall, (ew can’t believe I just said “Dope”) next time in the city you should totally check it out!! It was a hip mall, and out of the gate trips are the best I was so glad to escape into the experience and enjoy my time in the city!

Today I woke up in a funk, I didn’t want to do anything and just stay in bed for the rest of the day. It was weird, last week I felt so good and feeling positive and out of the blue my negative thoughts had resurfaced back.. I didn’t want it to affect my day. Finally, getting out of my bed I decided to make myself a cup of coffee and put some comfy clothes on the best thing to do is get out of your pajamas. Try putting on some comfy jeans and a cute cardigan, which I did my mom had encouraged me to come out to look at some cute spring clothes and the local Marshall’s. Getting distracted by doing something such as going shopping and looking for cute clothes focuses your attention on something else, by looking at the clothes you get excited by, thinking about where you would wear it, how it would look on you, and how you would feel confident wearing the outfit. After shopping I went to eat some lunch, enjoyed a hamburger with french fries with my mom. It’s good to get out when you are eating you are surrounded by other people and can have meaningful conversations with the people you are with and enjoy each other company. After, we came back home I went back upstairs and listened to my music I realized I shouldn’t be in my room doing nothing and got up and went on a walk. I put my shoes on and blasted Panic at the Disco! on my phone and began to walk, I focused on the music playing and looked what was right in front of me. Walking sometimes helps you get out of your mind and gets you to think what you have in the moment. If you are angry or something, kick a rock and continue to walk I look at it like this when you are walking look at it like a path. There are going to be stumbles along the way but we still have to walk along the way to our beautiful destination. What I am trying to say in this post is, we go through our ups and downs and it is our decision on how to overcome the problem that is right in front of us. Its okay to go through bad times, it makes us stronger as individuals and we will see the light at the end of the road. Just remember to keep your head up and accept the sad days, you will get better !